'Na Cloigne' the supernatural drama series produced by ROSG, is selected to represent Ireland in 'Drama Series' category at prestigious Celtic Media Festival

‘Na Cloigne’ beats off stiff competition from ‘Love/Hate’ and ‘Raw’ to be selected

as drama entry for Ireland at international event

‘Na Cloigne’, a contemporary Irish language supernatural thriller broadcast on TG4 last year, has beaten off stiff competition from a host of Irish TV drama productions to be selected as the Irish entry in the ‘Drama Series’ category at the prestigious Celtic Media Festival.

The Celtic Media Festival is an annual celebration of the best of film, television, radio and digital media from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany and the Isle of Man. The event, which will take place in Scotland in April, promotes the richness of Celtic heritage, language and culture.

‘Na Cloigne’ was chosen over a number of other English and Irish language productions, including ‘Love/Hate’, ‘Raw’, ‘An Crises’ and ‘Ros na Rún’, to represent Ireland in the ‘Drama Series’ category at this international festival.

The standard at the Celtic Media Festival is extremely high, with the event attracting major drama productions from major broadcasters such as BBC, RTE, UTV, TG4 and Channel 4.

The shortlist for the ‘Drama Series’ category at the Celtic Media Festival is:

Na Cloigne: ROSG, Ireland

Sherlock: Hartswood Films, Wales

Lip Service: Kudos Films, Scotland

Single Father: Red Production Company, Scotland

Istoriou Breizh: Pois Chiche, Brittany

Pen Taler: Fiction Factory, Wales

‘Na Cloigne’, which translates as ‘The Heads’, features a young couple at the centre of an investigation into the violent and gruesome murders of two women. Directed by Robert Quinn and produced by Ciarán Ó Cofaigh for ROSG, a Conamara based film and television production company, the series was originally broadcast as a three part series on TG4 early last year and a feature length film version was broadcast on TG4 over Halloween.

‘Na Cloigne’ focuses on the discovery of the naked and decapitated bodies of two young women in the woods. Local artist Nuala (Siobhan O’Kelly) and her adulterous boyfriend Seán (Dara Devaney) find themselves at the heart of the brutal murder inquiry as jealousy, lust and insecurity drives their relationship to breaking point. The programme moves into paranormal territory when the mysterious Superintendent Ó Sé (Barry McGovern) arrives on the scene and calls upon his supernatural intuition to try and unravel the murder mystery.

‘Na Cloign’e boasts a host of renowned Irish acting talent including Dara Devaney and Siobhán O Kelly starring as troubled couple Seán and Nuala, with Barry McGovern playing the psychic Superintendent who comes to their aid. Among the supporting cast are well known Irish language actors Mac dara Ó Fatharta, Joe Steve Ó Neachtain and Áine Ní Dhroighneáin.

Today’s news follows last week’s announcement that ‘Na Cloign’e received six nominations for the upcoming 2011 Irish Film and Television Awards in a variety of categories including ‘Single Drama / Drama Serial’, ‘Director Television’, Writer Television’, ‘Make-Up and Hair’, ‘Original Score’ and ‘Irish Language’.

Ciarán Ó Cofaigh, Producer of ‘Na Cloigne’, says:

“We are delighted to have been selected to represent Ireland in the ‘Drama Series’ category at the Celtic Media Festival. We were up against some serious competition from a number of other Irish productions – in both the Irish and English language – so it’s an absolute honour to have secured the nomination and to be representing our country at such a well known international event.

“The fact that this news comes so soon after securing six nominations for the upcoming Irish Film and Television Awards makes it even more fantastic. We had an extraordinary team working on ‘Na Cloigne’, including some of the best acting talent available in Ireland today, and it’s wonderful that the hard work put in by everyone is being rewarded in such a public way.”

‘Na Cloigne’ was funded by TG4, The Irish Film Board, The BAI and private investment through 481.

ROSG also recently released a DVD of ‘Cré na Cille’, the company’s feature film adaptation of Máirtín Ó Cadhain’s celebrated Irish language novel.

The DVD, which has subtitles in Irish, English, French, Spanish, German and Chinese, is a darkly-humorous tale of an intense jealousy and hatred between two sisters which worsens with age and continues into the afterlife.

Directed by Robert Quinn and produced by Ciaran Ó Cofaigh for ROSG, ‘Cré na Cille’ was shot with a cast and crew of 60 people in a variety of locations around Conamara. The DVD also includes a documentary on the making of the film.